Chap. 495.—An ACT to incorporate the James river railway company.

In effect February 22, 1900.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That John L.
Watson, A. J. Phillips, Charles E. Fink, D. W. Todd, J. W. Brown, ju-
nior, William P. Andrews, Gustavus Ober, and T. J. Wool, and their asso-
clates, successors and assigns, be, and they are hereby, constituted a
body politic and corporate, by the name and style of the James river rail-
way company.

2. The said company shall have perpetual succession, and shall have
power to sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, defend and be de-
fended in all the courts, whether in law or in equity; and make and
have a common seal, which it may alter and renew at pleasure; and shall
have, possess, and enjoy all the rights, powers, and privileges conferred,
and be subject to all the general restrictions imposed, by the laws of this
state upon such bodies politic and corporate.

3. The capital stock of the said company shall not be less than ten
thousand dollars, and may from time to time be increased by the stock-
holders of said company in meeting assembled to any amount not ex-
ceeding five hundred thousand dollars, and shall be divided into shares
of one hundred dollars each; and the board of directors may dispose of
same at such prices and upon such terms and under such conditions a:
they may determine; and the directors may receive cash, labor, material.
bonds, stocks, real or personal property, in payment of subscriptions to
the capital stock at such valuation as may be agreed upon between the
directors and the subscribers, and may make such subscriptions payable
in such manner or amounts and at such times as may be agreed upon:
the incorporators above named, or a majority of them, may receive suh-
scriptions to the capital stock in such manner as they may deem best,
and no advertisement of the time and place at which the books will be
open for subscriptions shall be necessary. The said company shall have
the power to issue preferred stock upon such terms as may be determined
upon by a majority of the stockholders.

4, The board of directors of the said company shall consist of five
members, which number may be increased to any number not exceeding
twelve, at any annual meeting of said company, the directors to hold
office for the term of one year and until their successors are elected and
accept the office, or they may be divided and elected as is provided by
an act approved March second, eighteen hundred and eighty-eight (ses-
sion acts eighteen hundred and eighty-seven and eighteen hundred and
eighty-eight, page four hundred and forty-eight); and the said board
of directors shall from their number elect a president, and may elect
such other officers and employees as they may deem necessary for the
proper conduct of the affairs of the company; and they shall fill any
vacancy that may occur in the board or in the office of president.

5. The said James river railway company is hereby authorized, em-
powered, and permitted to locate, construct, equip, maintain, and operate
a railway of standard or narrow gauge, with one or more tracks, to be
operated by steam, electric or any other motive power, from any point
in the city of Portsmouth, or in the county of Norfolk, in this state,
by such route as may have already or may be hereafter adopted by the
directors of the said company, through the counties of Norfolk, Nanse-
mond, and Isle of Wight, and into the town of Smithfield, or to any point
in the counties of Nansemond or Isle of Wight; and the said company
shall have the right to construct bridges across any rivers or streams,
whether the same be navigable or not: provided, the navigation of said
rivers and streams shall not be interfered with. The said company
shall have the right to cross the track of any other railroad company at
grade, or over or under the same, subject to the provisions of the general
laws of the state of Virginia.

6. The said company is authorized and empowered to locate, construct,
equip, and operate any lateral branch or tramway, not exceeding twenty
miles in length each, which a majority of its stockholders may determine
to construct and operate, and by such route as may be determined upon
by its board of directors, and may at any time with the consent of the
majority of the stockholders, extend its line of railway by such route as
its directors may determine upon into the city of Richmond, and may
cross any rivers or streams that may lie in the route determined upon:
provided, the navigation of said rivers and streams so crossed shall not

interfered with; and the said company may connect or unite its said
road with that of any other company or companies, or consolidate or
merge its stock, property, and franchises with those of any other com-
pany or companies operating in this state, and upon such terms and
under such name as may be agreed upon between the companies
so uniting or connecting, merging, or consolidating; and may enter into
traffic or other arrangements of contract with any other railroad com-
pany, whether organized under the law of this state or not, and to these
ends power is hereby given to such company to make and carry out
such contract by lease, purchase, acquisition of stock in such company,
or otherwise as will facilitate and consummate such connection or con-
solidation or such traffic contract upon such terms as may be agreed upon
by the board of directors of this company and any other such company.
And the said company may own, charter or otherwise employ vessels
propelled by steam or sail, or by other means, in order to facilitate and
meet the demands of trade and commerce and to construct all neces-
sary work, conveniences, and facilities as will aid it in the furtherance
of its purposes, such as wharves, piers, warehouses and other structures,
with the right to charge and collect tolls for the use of the same.

7. It shall be lawful for the said company to borrow money and to
issue and sell its bonds, either coupons or registered, from time to time,
for such amount, amounts, or sums, and on such terms as its stockholders
may deem expedient and proper for its purposes, and may secure the
payment of said bonds by one or more mortgages or deeds of trust, con-
veying in trust all or any portion of its property, real, personal, and
mixed, its contracts and privileges, and its chartered rights and fran-
chises, including its franchise to be a corporation, and also any prop-
erty it may acquire after the date of said mortgage, to such trustee or
trustees as to the board of directors may seem proper; and it may, as
the business of the company shall require, sell, lease, convey, and en-
cumber all or any portion of its property, rights, privileges, or franchises,
including its franchise to be a corporation.

8. It shall be lawful for said company to subscribe to and hold shares
of the capital stock in any manufacturing company, railroad company
or other corporation, organized under the laws of this or any other state;
and the said company may also hold or guarantee the bonds of any other
such company; and any manufacturing company, railroad company, or
other corporation organized under the laws of this or any other state,
may subscribe to and hold shares of stock in said company, or may pur-
chase, hold or guarantee the bonds of the said company.

9. The said company mav acquire by condemnation, according to the
laws of the state of Virginia, the lands required for the rights of way
of the said railroad and its branches, and for the necessary stations and
depots, vards, terminal facilities for its operation; and may use the
public roads of any county through which its line may run, by and with
the consent of the judge of the county courts of the respective counties,
and upon making compensation to the abutting land-owners, and mav
in like manner use the streets of any city or town through which its
line may run by and with the consent of said city and town.

10. Each stockholder in said company shall at all meetings or elec-
tions be entitled to one vote for each share of stock registered in his
name; and the president and the board of directors of the said company
mav enact such laws, rules, and regulations for the management of the
affairs of the said company as they may deem expedient.

11. Whenever the said corporation shall exercise any of the privileges
conferred by this act it shall be hable to the same taxes as may be imposed
by law upon like corporations or persons exercising like privileges: and
all taxes due the commonwealth by the said company shall be paid in
lawful money of the United States, and not in coupons.

12. In the event of a consolidation with any other company, this com-
pany shall remain a Virginia corporation so far as the right of suing and
being sued is concerned.
13. The construction of the said road shall begin within two years
from the first day of July, nineteen hundred, and be completed within
five years from the date of the passage of this act.

14. This act shall be in force from its passage.